Coaster-cup lid



April 19, 1966 D. HOLLEY COASTER-CUP LID Filed Feb. 5, 1964 FIG.I.

INVENTOR.

DAN FORTH HOLLEY ATTO R EYS United States Patent to Holley PlasticsCompany, Warren, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Feb. 3, 1964,Ser. No. 342,124 4 Claims. (Cl. 215-4005) The invention relates tocontainers and refers more specifically to a combination coaster-cup lidfor use with a disposable cup or the like.

In the past a lid for a disposable cup has generally been used to retainthe contents of the cup within the cup until it is desired to use thecontents at which time the lid is removed and disposed of. A filleddisposable cup may be hot or cold and uncomfortable to handle. Furtherprior disposable cups are subject to dripping from the lip thereof andare of course more prone to leaking than permanent .DP P

Disposable cup lids are some times placed on a support such as a deskup-side-down to provide a crude coaster for the associated cup. Use ofthe cup lids in such a manner is however somewhat undesirable since ifthe lids are placed on the support in the same position they are in onthe cup they tend to produce spots wherever they are placed and even ifinverted they tend to drain onto supports on which they are placed.

It is therefore one of the purposes of the present invention to providean improved cup lid.

Another object is to provide in combination a disposable cup and acombination coaster-cup lid.

Another object is to provide a lid for a disposable cup which may beused as a coaster in an inverted position when removed from the cup.

Another object is to provide a disposable combination coaster-cup lidfor use with a disposable cup including a cylindrical hat section forreceiving the bottom portion of a cup with which the coaster-cup lid isassociated, a radially outwardly extending annular flange projectingfrom the open end of the hat section having a rte-entrant annular recessextending therearound opening in the same direction as the hat section.

Another object is to provide a combination coaster-cup lid as set forthabove wherein the annular recess is of the same diameter as the lip ofthe associated cup and is reentrant so as to snap over the associatedcup lip.

Another object is to provide a combination coaster-cup lid as set forthabove and further including an arcuate annular lip extending radiallyoutwardly from the outer periphery of the flange and away from the hatsection.

Another object is to provide a combination coaster-cup lid as set forthabove wherein the hat shaped section is of substantial depth and istapered and dimensioned to fit snugly about the bottom portion of theassociated cup when positioned thereon in an inverted position.

Another object is to provide a combination coaster-cup lid which issimple in construction, economical to manufacture and eflicient in use.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as thedescription proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of theinvention, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of a diposable cup having a combinationcoaster-cup lid constructed in accordance with the invention positionedthereon.

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section view of the disposable cup andcoaster-cup lid illustrated in FIGURE 1 taken substantially on the line2--2 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal section view of the disposable cup andcombination coaster-cup lid as illustrated 3,246,786 I Patented Apr. 19,1966 in FIGURES 1 and 2 with the coaster-cup lid inverted and positionedon the bottom of the cup in use as a coaster.

FIG. 4 is a view of the combination coaster-cup lid only takensubstantially on the line 44 in FIGURE 1.

With particular reference to the figures of the drawing, one embodimentof the present invention will now be considered in detail.

As shown in FIGURE 1 a disposable cup 10 is provided with a combinationcoaster-cup lid 12 constructed in accordance with the invention. In usethe coaster-cup lid 12 may be used as a lid for the cup 10, as shown inFIG- URES 1 and 2. Alternatively the coaster-cup lid 12 may be used inan inverted position as a coaster as illustrated in FIGURE 3.

More specifically the disposable cup 10 while it is illustrated as beingconstructed of paperboard may be constructed of plastic or may be aplastic coated paperboard.

Other materials, such as metal, metal foil and glass may,

of course be used to form the cup 10 and it is not necessary that thecup be disposable.

Cup 10 includes the body member 14 in the general form of a truncatedcone. The larger open end 16 of the body member 14 is rolled to providea lip 18 for strength, sealing and aesthetic purposes. The lower end 20of the body member 14 is open-returned about the annular peripheralflange 22 of the bottom member 24 of the cup 10.

The coaster-cup lid 12 includes a hat portion 26 of substantial depthhaving an inner surface corresponding to but slightly smaller indiameter than the outer surface of the bottom portion of the cup 10, asshown best in FIG- URE 3. Thus, when the coaster-cup lid 12 is used as acoaster, the cup 10 is firmly secured to the coaster-cup lid 12. Thecoaster-cup lid 12 may therefore be grasped rather than the cup wherebythe user is insulated from the direct heat of the cup 10. Further, withthe cup and coaster-cup lid so dimensioned the cup and coaster-cup lidare movable as a unit regardless of whether the cup or the coaster isgrasped.

The coaster-cup lid 12 further includes the annular, radially outwardlyextending flange 28 at the open end of the hat section 26 thereof.Flange 28 includes the annular re-entrant recess 30 therearound and anupturned arcuate lip 32 at the radially outer edge of the annularre-entrant recess 30.

The re-entrant recess 30 is dimensioned to snap over the rolled edge 18of the cup 10 with the coaster-cup lid in position as a lid, asillustrated in FIGURES l and 2. The re-entrant recess 30 further servesto collect any liquid that may drop from the rolled edge 18 with the cup10 in use since the diameter of the recess 30 positions it directlybelow the rolled edge 18 with the coaster-cup lid in an invertedposition in use as a coaster as shown in FIG. 3. The annular recess 30is maintained in a position directly below the rolled edge 18 due to thecentering of the cup 10 on the coaster-cup lid 12 with the cup 10positioned within the hat section 26 of coaster-cup lid 12.

The arcuate lip 32 serves to insure that any drops or leakage from thecup 10 are directed into the recess 30.

Thus in use the cup 10 is filled, for example with a beverage, such ascoffee, and the coaster-cup lid 12 is snapped on the top thereof, asshown in FIGURES 1 and 2, with the lip 18 held firmly in the re-entrantannular recess 30. When it is desired to drink the beverage in the cup10, the coaster-cup lid 12 is removed therefrom and positioned on thebottom of the cup 10 in an inverted position, as shown best in FIGURE 3.

The cup 10 may then be held by means of the coastercup lid 12 wherebythe user is insulated from the temperature of the cup contents. Furtherthe cup may be positioned on a surface without danger of spotting ormarring the surface since any drops or slight leakage of the beveragefrom the cup 10 will be collected in the annular recess 30.

While one embodiment of the present invention has been considered indetail, other embodiments and modifications of the invention arecontemplated. It is the object to include all embodiments andmodifications of the invention as are defined by the appended claimswithin the scope of the invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A combination coaster-cup lid, comprising a hat section ofsubstantial depth tapered to snugly receive a bottom portion of acorresponding cup, said hat section having an open end, an annularflange extending radially outwardly from the open end of the hat sectionhaving a reentrant annular recess therearound opening in the samedirection as the hat, section dimensioned to snap over a rolled edge ofthe corresponding cup and an annular arcuate lip secured to andextending radially outwardly from the outer periphery of the flange andaway from the hat section.

2. Structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein the combination coaster-cuplid is constructed of a plastic material.

3. A combination coaster-cup lid, comprising a hat section ofsubstantial depth tapered to snugly receive a bottom portion of acorresponding cup, said hat section having an open end and an annularflange extending radially outwardly from the open end of the hat sectionand having a re-entrant annular recess therearound opening in the samedirection as the hat section dimensioned to snap over a rolled edge ofthe corresponding cup.

4. A combination coaster-cup lid, comprising a hat section ofsubstantial depth tapered to snugly receive a bottom portion of acorresponding cup, said hat section having an open end and an annularflange extending radially outwardly from the open end of the hat sectionand having an annular recess therearound and opening in the samedirection as the hat section dimensioned to fit over a rolled edge ofthe corresponding cup.

References Cited by the Erraminer UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,031,800 2/1936Thiele 2151 3,079,037 2/1963 Schechter 215100.5 3,095,132 6/1963 Halley2291.5

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner.

1. A COMBINATION COASTER-CUP LID, COMPRISING A HAT SECTION OFSUBSTANTIAL DEPTH TAPERED TO SNUGLY RECEIVE A BOTTOM PORTION OF ACORRESPONDING CUP, SAID HAT SECTION HAVING AN OPEN END, AN ANNULARFLANGE EXTENDING RADIALLY OUTWARDLY FROM THE OPEN END OF THE HAT SECTIONHAVING A REENTRANT ANNULAR RECESS THEREAROUND OPENING IN THE SAMEDIRECTION AS THE HAT SECTION DIMENSIONED TO SNAP OVER A ROLLED EDGE OFTHE CORRESPONDING CUP AND AN ANNULAR ARCUATE LIP SECURED TO ANDEXTENDING RADIALLY OUTWARDLY FROM